Brayden Whalen died in early 2013 after inflicted brain trauma

HAMPTON — A U.S. Navy sailor pleaded guilty on Wednesday to killing his girlfriend's 6-month-old baby — striking or shaking him so severely that it caused skull and rib fractures, breathing difficulties and "significant brain trauma" that ended his life.

Daniel J. Lunsford, 23, who before the incident had lived off of Magruder Boulevard, entered the guilty pleas in Hampton Circuit Court to one count of felony homicide and one count of felony child abuse in the death of Brayden Whalen.

Felony homicide, a form of second-degree murder, is an accidental killing that takes place while engaged in another felony — in this case, child abuse. Two other charges — a second count of child abuse and a misdemeanor charge of failing to secure medical attention — were dropped as part of the plea.

When Lunsford called paramedics on Jan. 1, 2013, police responded to a darkened apartment, with Brayden lying on the living room floor, Jones said. Medics saw bruises and lacerations on the child's face and head, and noticed his breathing was "erratic, shallow and slow."

Lunsford initially told investigators that Brayden had hit his head against a wall a few days earlier, and that a pet cat the baby had been playing with had also scratched and otherwise injured the boy.

But doctors didn't buy that story, saying the skull fractures, broken ribs, retinal hemorrhaging behind both eyes, and bruising to the face, head and ears didn't match the explanation.

Lunsford later told a Hampton detective that he was carrying Brayden in his arms when he tripped over the cat, and that the child was injured in the fall. But the detective told Lunsford he didn't think he was "at the truth yet," Jones said.

That's when Lunsford told the detective that Brayden was crying, not taking a bottle, and that Lunsford was "stressing," and "smacked him on the cheek," but that "it wasn't that hard," demonstrating the action for the officer.

He said he put the child on his bed and walked away. "Everything was fine except for that one moment," Lunsford told the officer, according to Jones.

Brayden — on a ventilator and suffering brain swelling — died on Jan. 5, 2013, of what a state medical examiner said was "significant fatal brain injury," resulting from "blunt force trauma or by being shaken."

Lunsford faces between seven and 50 years in prison when he's sentenced on May 21 by Circuit Court Judge Wilford Taylor Jr.

Lunsford, originally from Elizabeth City, N.C., has been in the Navy since July of 2011, and the enlisted man had been stationed on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, at Naval Station Norfolk, since early 2012.

He's now in the process of being "administratively separated" from the Navy, said the Abraham Lincoln's public affairs officer, Lt. Cmdr. Jennifer Cragg.

Charges are still pending against Brayden's mother, Brittany Whalen. With a trial set for August, she's charged with three counts of felony child neglect and one count of failure to seek medical attention.

Prosecutors assert that Whalen has training as an emergency medical technician, and knew the injuries to her child were significant, but failed to take action.

But after Wednesday's hearing, Whalen expressed concern that prosecutors would ask for too low a sentence against her ex-boyfriend. "Justice for Brayden," she said. "That's my sole focus."

Roxanne and Chris Harris — Brayden's grandparents and Brittany Whalen's mother and stepfather — also voiced concern that Lunsford could get too low a sentence. They termed the plea on Wednesday "slapping the wrist of a murderer," and "a great injustice to an innocent baby (who) deserved nothing but to live."

There was no formal plea agreement in the case, though Jones said prosecutors dropped two charges — a felony child abuse count and the misdemeanor count of failing to seek medical attention — "in consideration" for Lunsford's guilty plea on the murder and a second child abuse count.

In other words, prosecutors dropped charges carrying a combined 11 years in prison, in return for Lunsford pleading guilty to charges carrying up to 50 years.

Jones said Wednesday's plea does not limit prosecutors to how much prison time they can seek. "There was no agreement on time," she said.

For her part, Jones said she plans to ask the judge for a sentence within the state's sentencing guidelines, which have not yet been calculated in this case. "I am not planning to argue for the low end of the guidelines," she said.